Suresite's health and safety team joins Opus Safety

Opus Safety has acquired the health and safety business of Preston-based Suresite. It is the fifth acquisition Opus has completed, following Agility Risk & Compliance, Three Spires Safety, GH Safety and Sentinel Safety Solutions.

Who is joining

All of Suresite's health and safety consultants have moved across to Opus, together with a network of associates. They bring more than 30 years of work in the petrol forecourt market, built on Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) risk assessments and compliance audits, across a business that services more than 3,500 petrol stations across the UK.

Suresite has built an enviable health and safety business over the last 30 years, developing a strong footprint in the petrol forecourt market through robust Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) risk assessments and compliance audits.

John Southall, Founder, Opus Safety

Why forecourts are their own discipline

A forecourt puts fuel storage, vapour, ignition sources and members of the public on one site, which is why DSEAR sits at the centre of the work. Regulation 7 requires places where an explosive atmosphere may occur to be classified into zones, and the tanker delivery area, the pumps and the underground tanks all sit inside them.

Forecourts are also one of the few places where DSEAR is not enforced by the HSE. Since October 2014 a forecourt holds a petroleum storage certificate rather than a licence, granted by the petroleum enforcement authority: the fire and rescue authority in London and the metropolitan counties, and the county or unitary council elsewhere. That same authority enforces DSEAR over the fuelling side of the site, and once a certificate has been granted, enforcement action is taken through DSEAR rather than through the certificate itself.

The shop trading alongside the pumps sits outside that particular remit but carries compliance duties of its own. Three overlapping regimes on one site is why forecourt compliance rewards people who work in it constantly rather than occasionally.

What it means if Opus already looks after you

Nothing changes in how your account runs. You keep the same consultant and the same way of working. The difference is the depth behind them: the team now includes specialists in forecourt and convenience retail compliance, alongside the existing health and safety, HR and occupational health services.

What it means if Suresite looked after your sites

Your consultant moves with the business, so the people who already know your sites stay with you. Behind them sits a wider team covering health and safety, HR and occupational health.

Questions about your sites

If you would like to talk through what this means for your sites, speak to your Opus consultant on 0330 043 4015 or email hello@opus-safety.co.uk.